Nearby Theaters

Originally opened as the Tulpehocken Theatre in 1914, this 800-plus seat theater on Germantown Avenue was remodeled in Art Deco style in 1931 by William H. Lee. It was also given a new name around this time, the Rialto. The theater closed in 1957. In 1960 it was converted into a church, which is still housed there today.

Used to be operated by the Stiefel family which at one time also operated the Philadelphia Uptown. The son, Arnold Stiefel, became an Hollywood agent, including among his clients Clint Eastwood. Mr. Stiefel was also the producer of the film “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”

The Rialto Theatre was opened as the Tulpehocken Theatre in 1914 at 6153 Germantown Avenue (Germantown Avenue & Tulpehocken Street). It was built at a cost of $20,000. It was a 834 seat theatre that was remodeled in the Art Deco style in 1931 by William H. Lee (a major theatre builder at the time) and given the new name “Rialto Theatre”. As with many of Germantown’s theatres and despite its smaller size, this was built as a vaudeville house with a stage for live shows as well as movies. In the early years as the Tulpehocken Theatre, live shows was its primary purpose. Eventually, it sole purpose was as a movie theatre. It closed in 1957 and, in 1960, was converted into a church, which is still housed there today. The facade was totally remodeled to the point where you cannot tell that it was a theatre at one time. Unlike some of the remodeling of these old theatre facades, this one actually looks nice.

Ken MC – That is the Rialto theater in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. The street with Belgium blocks and trolley tracks is Germantown Avenue. The 23 Trolley line ran there, at that time the longest trolley line entirely within a city limits in the world. The adjoining street is East Tulpehocken Street, where my mother was born in 1915. I saw the Creature From the Black Lagoon in that theater in 1954. It was a lovely little theater. You walked straight in from the entrance, slightly uphill. The theater was all to the right. Thanks for posting it.